Community Lounge, Introductions and General Discussion Discussion, What do you collect? in General Discussion; Originally Posted by cadillaxe
Ecto&#8211;1 is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor[53] limo-style endloader combination car (ambulance conversion).
Attachment 94113
Wikpedia FTW!...

Re: What do you collect?

The 1959 Miller Meteor credited as being an Ambulance over a Hearse is a constant thing, wrought primarily for two reasons.

The first and more obvious is the colour, which looks more like what one would expect from an ambulance. Interestingly, the car was originally black and violet, but the producers realized it looked horrible on camera, as the car was mostly only scheduled for scenes in the dark. They opted to have it painted white and red shortly thereafter.

The second is that most people who research things find the term "combination" which is really an industry term and can apply to cars that served exclusively as an ambulance or exclusively as a Hearse, but were manufactured in a "combination" design and are thereby classified as such.

The original Ecto-1 that is the one used in Ghostbusters, is canonically referred to as a Hearse and never as an Ambulance, though it was painted white, it's first appearance in the film was with it still being black and the nail in the coffin, the actual car used in the film was indeed a 1959 Miller Meteor Combination, but was formerly owned exclusively by a small Funeral Home from...where else, the Hearse Capital of the world, Central Pennsylvania (Where all the '59 Hearses are including mine)

Therefore, one may call it an ambulance by it's technical specifications or by it's colouration, but the car was never an in service as or in use as an ambulance, and it's entire service life was as a black Limo-Style Hearse used by a small Funeral Home (I believe the name was Wellington, but that is merely the name used in my lifetime, it may have had another name in the fifties). It was and forever shall be, a Hearse...even if it is red and white.

Who needs Wikipedia? They're the same asshats that call this a "1970" in spite of how painfully obvious it is that that is clearly a stock 1990 Federal with sucky paint... Kids these days.

As for Thunderbirds, not really too knowledgeable about those (compared to the things I would consider myself knowledgeable about, but my '72 bears a lot in common with it's Ford sister, the Thunderbird, but the car is not nearly finicky enough to make me have to learn about it.

Re: What do you collect?

Originally Posted by The-Dullahan

The 1959 Miller Meteor credited as being an Ambulance over a Hearse is a constant thing, wrought primarily for two reasons.

The first and more obvious is the colour, which looks more like what one would expect from an ambulance. Interestingly, the car was originally black and violet, but the producers realized it looked horrible on camera, as the car was mostly only scheduled for scenes in the dark. They opted to have it painted white and red shortly thereafter.

The second is that most people who research things find the term "combination" which is really an industry term and can apply to cars that served exclusively as an ambulance or exclusively as a Hearse, but were manufactured in a "combination" design and are thereby classified as such.

The original Ecto-1 that is the one used in Ghostbusters, is canonically referred to as a Hearse and never as an Ambulance, though it was painted white, it's first appearance in the film was with it still being black and the nail in the coffin, the actual car used in the film was indeed a 1959 Miller Meteor Combination, but was formerly owned exclusively by a small Funeral Home from...where else, the Hearse Capital of the world, Central Pennsylvania (Where all the '59 Hearses are including mine)

Therefore, one may call it an ambulance by it's technical specifications or by it's colouration, but the car was never an in service as or in use as an ambulance, and it's entire service life was as a black Limo-Style Hearse used by a small Funeral Home (I believe the name was Wellington, but that is merely the name used in my lifetime, it may have had another name in the fifties). It was and forever shall be, a Hearse...even if it is red and white.

Who needs Wikipedia? They're the same asshats that call this a "1970" in spite of how painfully obvious it is that that is clearly a stock 1990 Federal with sucky paint...

i feel better about remembering it as a hearse, though not as good about the fact that i relied on the not-so-accurate wiki over my own memory.

Re: What do you collect?

No worries. Just remember: when in doubt, never trust the system. If you feel strongly about something you feel you should know a lot about, chances are you are correct. The information from sources such as Wikipedia are compiled theories or beliefs from a large group of less-than-experts and in many cases, those incredibly far from it (Have you the slightest idea how many people think a Miller-Meteor is a vehicle produced as a Hearse or Ambulance by Cadillac? As is the "Superior" of course... )

Relative to the lack of knowledge of people and Miller-Meteor Limo-style Hearses, I've an interesting tale to share.

At an event once, I happened across another Hearse, not too different from my '87. It was an '87 as well (though it had all of the work done to make it appear as a 1990+) but it was a Miller Meteor, specifically a Limo-style Hearse with a third window. This was very comical to me, though only I understood why. You see, the registered owner had no idea what the car was called, that Cadillac did not make factory Hearses, that there were separate companies making them, what the differences between the countries were and both the terms "Fleetwood" and "Brougham" were alien to him entirely (Which makes me wonder if he ever read his vehicle registration). He had done his up to resemble the Ecto-1, which was so deliciously ironic to me, seeing as it bore more in common with the original than he thought.

Throughout the evening, as people passed by our cars (which were parked only a few spaces apart with a "Christine" '58 Plymouth and an empty parking space between us) I heard many people remark that his car was "The Car from Ghostbusters!!!!!!!!!1111111111!!!!!!!1111" but chose not to bother informing them otherwise. One particular group caught my eye though as a girl from the group said "Wait, isn't that a Hearse?" to which a male from the group said "No, THAT's a Hearse." (pointing at my car, which was obviously a near-identical car to the supposed Ecto-1) and an epic facepalm ensued.

For fun, here's the EctoBrougham

A while back, this car showed up in Kissimmee as a Halloween Decoration at the same family-tourist-trap-type area that hosts the weekly antique car show (Though not nearly antique enough to be IN the actual show) and again in my current home town, which is relatively tiny, if you measure by population rather than landmass. The owner seemed surprised I knew of this, but seriously, even the ones I have no explanation for, there are NOT Hearses in my area I am unaware of. Ever. It's a gift.

Re: What do you collect?

I have, RPD, I really have. To no avail however, as people go back on and muck it up again. There are a few articles I have corrected and had them stay that way. Likewise, there are articles I removed information from, even though it was correct at the time, but I had a good reason at least, in that it implicated me in particular in something I would rather not be associated with or have presumptuous connections to.

Re: What do you collect?

Outta here.............. time to go warm up the tubes and spin some Dire Straits vinyl.

(Anyone see where The Marshall Tucker Band is releasing their new albums on vinyl ? ....... Searchin' For A Rainbow.............Fire On The Mountain )

One of the best albums ever is their self titled first album. If I were limited to only ten albums for the rrest of my life it would be one of them. Hmm...thread idea?...

I was lucky enough to see Marshall Tucker Band at a great concert in 77 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
It was Fleetwood Mac, Marshall Tucker Band, Sanford Townsend Band(Smoke From A Distant Fire), and one other band that slips my addled mind at this time. Great outdoor concert on a perfect evening.

Re: What do you collect?

My kids have started collecting vinyl. We spent the 4th thru the 8th with my daughter and SIL in Reno, most of the time at thrift stores, searching though the records. I became the chief QC inspector for my youngest; "Is this group good? How's the record? Is it Ok? Should I buy it?"